Dead baby 'forgotten' in backseat

A BABY girl died from dehydration after her father “simply forgot” she was in the backseat of the family car for six hours.

The Rockhampton man will spend at least six months in jail over the death of his nine-month-old daughter last May.

The court was told the infant sat in the backseat of the car outside her father’s Rockhampton unit in temperatures up to 48 degrees.

The 39-year-old had intended to take her to childcare but drove home and left her alone in the car while he spent almost six hours inside working on two university assignments.

Almost six hours after leaving her inside the car, he reversed out the driveway and saw his daughter still in her seat.

The man jumped out of the car and opened the door, crying out to a neighbour: “Help me I’ve killed my daughter. I’ve killed ...” His neighbour called an ambulance, but it was too late and the baby was declared dead of dehydration at the scene.

In the Supreme Court at Rockhampton Justice Duncan McMeekin said he accepted the man had “simply forgot” his daughter was in the car and felt “genuine and heartfelt remorse” but he must serve time in prison to mark the importance “of the duties parents take on”.

After pleading guilty to manslaughter, the man was sentenced to four years in prison with a non-parole period of six months.